Commentary

Medieval Institute Publications at Western Michigan University publishes the Commentary Series for the TEAMS Consortium for Teaching Medieval Studies.

Series introduction

The TEAMS Commentary Series is designed for classroom use with a goal to make available to teachers and students useful examples of the vast tradition of medieval commentary on sacred scripture. The series includes English translations of works written in a number of medieval languages and from various centuries and religious traditions. The series focuses on treatises which have relevance to the many fields of medieval studies, including theories of allegory and literature, history of art, music, spirituality and political thought. The editions include short introductions which set the context and suggest the importance of each work.

Editorial board

Proposals or completed manuscripts to be considered for publication by Medieval Institute Publications should be sent to Tyler Cloherty, acquisitions editor for the series, or the series editor, E. Ann Matter, emerita, University of Pennsylvania.

Board members comprise:

Thomas E. Burman, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

John C. Cavidini, University of Notre Dame

Robert Harris, Jewish Theological Seminary of America (New York)

Frans van Liere, Calvin College

Jim O'Donnell, Arizona State University

Lesley Smith, University of Oxford

Publications

Early Latin Commentaries on the Apocalypse

Edited by Francis X. Gumerlock

This book provides English translations of two Latin commentaries on the Apocalypse from the seventh and eighth centuries.

John Wyclif, On the Truth of Holy Scripture

Translated with an introduction and notes by Ian Christopher Levy

Wyclif sought the restoration of an idealized past even if that meant taking revolutionary steps in the present to recover what had been lost. His 1377–78 "On the Truth of Holy Scripture" represents such an effort in reform: the recognition of the inherent perfection and veracity of the Sacred Page which serves as the model for daily conduct, discourse and worship, thereby forming the foundation upon which Christendom itself is to be ordered.

Second Thessalonians: Two Early Medieval Apocalyptic Commentaries

Introduced and translated by Steven R. Cartwright and Kevin L. Hughes

Apocalyptic speculation, in one form or another, is as persistent at the turn of this millennium as it was at the last. The commentaries of Haimo of Auxerre and Thietland of Einsiedeln offer glimpses of two links in [the] unbroken chain of the apocalyptic tradition.

Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Other Kabbalistic Commentaries

Selected, translated and annotated by Seth Brody

The commentary of Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona (d. ca. 1245) on the Song of Songs is one of the most important texts of the first clearly identified circle of Kabbalists, those operating in the Catalonian town of Gerona at the middle of the thirteenth century.

Nicholas of Lyra's Apocalypse Commentary

Translated with an introduction and notes by Philip D.W. Krey

Surveys of the history of biblical exegesis and, in particular, the history of Apocalypse commentaries rarely fail to allude to Nicholas of Lyra O.F.M. (1270–1349) as the greatest biblical exegete of the fourteenth century.

Medieval Exegesis in Translation: Commentaries on the Book of Ruth

Translated with an introduction and notes by Lesley Smith

This book brings together and translates from the medieval Latin a series of commentaries on the biblical book of Ruth, with the intention of introducing readers to medieval exegesis or biblical interpretation.

Haimo of Auxerre, Commentary on the Book of Jonah

Translated with an introduction and notes by Deborah Everhart

Haimo of Auxerre's "Commentary on Jonah" was probably written as a study text for scholars in the monastery. His basic method is to present a verse from the Book of Jonah, then offer condensed versions of the diverse and occasionally contradictory interpretations of that verse that were available to him.